Georgie Pearman dreamt of fleeing London for a less stressful life in the country. But while the former City lawyer has managed to escape the city, her version of country life is far from peaceful. She is buried deep in the Cotswolds running a pub empire.

It doesn’t hurt, of course, that her husband, Sam, is an experienced chef and restaurant manager. In a climate where a dozen British pubs close every week , the decision was brave; the transition challenging. The results, however, have been life-changing .

The couple had been living in Battersea, south-west London. Georgie worked for Allen & Overy while Sam, a former professional rugby player, managed the Glasshouse in Kew. In 2004 they were offered the tenancy of a pub and hotel in Cirencester by a family friend and leapt at the chance.

“I was working horrendous hours and after our first daughter was born, I really didn’t want to have to go back to the office,” says Georgie.

The Cotswold stone building was lovely, but they quickly realised that it needed a vast injection of cash. After two years they cut their losses and – with Georgie by then expecting a second daughter – moved in with her parents in Worcestershire while they hunted for another premises.

After a year they found a pub in Cheltenham, the Tavern, and took it on, undeterred by the fact its previous owner had gone bust. A year after that, they took over the Wheatsheaf, in the village of Northleach, 14 miles from Cheltenham. Their big break came 18 months ago when they found a backer and were able to buy the freeholds of both pubs, for about £1.5 million. They were also able to buy a cottage beside the Wheatsheaf, and began a refurbishment.

In order not to alienate their loyal regulars, they decided not to alter the main bar significantly. But they added a new bar and private dining rooms, revamped the little-used garden and built a treatment room. They also increased their nine bedrooms to 14.

Their decoration is more boutique hotel than pub, using finds sourced at European flea and antiques markets, a pared down colour palette, and a portrait of Kate Moss. (Ms Moss was obviously impressed: she put up guests to her wedding last year at the pub.)

Georgie considers the experiment a great success. “If you walk into the Wheatsheaf on any night of the week it is full of people having fun,” she says.

But while the Wheatsheaf is blossoming, the recession has hit Britain’s pub industry a hammer blow. And because of a catastrophic collapse in UK pub prices since the recession began, it is a time of opportunity for anyone dreaming of following in the Pearmans’ footsteps.

Simon Hall, a director at Fleurets, an estate agency specialising in public houses, estimates that pub prices have fallen by an average 30-40 per cent since 2007, but also thinks prices have stabilised.

“I don’t think the market is going to fall further and there is definitely the opportunity to increase value – the people who are buying these pubs are those who have the creativity and training to turn them into something much better than they have been,” he said. “There is still a good living to be made with pubs, particularly with food sales.”

Georgie agrees with Hall that an affluent location is key, preferably one that will attract tourists. And proximity to a city means local custom can be augmented by townies in search of a country pub to hang out at.

Five years ago Georgie and Sam were able to buy their own property, a Grade II listed cottage near Cirencester which had been virtually untouched since the Sixties. The retro kitchen has been replaced with traditional farmhouse-style units and a Rayburn. Georgie sourced hardwood worktops from a reclamation yard – originally from a Romanian science laboratory – and she made them into chunky work surfaces. The ageing lino was torn up and replaced with Indian sandstone flagstones, while the veteran carpets in the living room were replaced with a wood floor. They even attempted lime rendering the walls themselves. Although they haven’t tackled the upstairs yet, the “countrified classic” theme in the pub bedrooms, using locally sourced fabrics and furniture, has certainly been a hit.

Georgie’s advice on running a pub is to tread carefully.

“I think it is an absolute minefield. We are trying our best, but I will only be able to say we are getting it right if we are still here in three or five years’ time.”